A few weeks ago, we released a preview of Gmail’s new look via two new themes. We asked you to try them out and send us your feedback. So far, less than 5% of Gmail usage is happening through these themes, but we’re getting some good feedback on what’s working and useful advice about what to improve from you early adopters.

What you like

The clean and minimalist look of the new design

Seeing a consistent “look” across Google products

“The new Preview theme is wonderful! It's clean and crisp, easy to read and really focused on the one thing that matters most in Gmail — the mail! Thanks!"

What you want to change

Too much whitespace and not enough information (though interestingly, many people reported that they appreciated to lower information density after a while)

Not enough contrast

Darker theme options

"Even with the 'dense' version, I still have listings of about 30% fewer messages. The lack of visual differentiation between content and UI chrome is also harder to process (e.g., where does the conversation list end and the toolbar begin)."

We’re working on improvements for the final release, but it is very encouraging that a visual update like this was generally greeted with such a positive response. If you haven’t tried out the new themes yet, give them a go and tell us what you think.